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Many of NZAVS members and supporters of the Petition both here and overseas will be asking me why Submissions and Witnesses have been disbarred from presenting evidence and to enable me to answer their questions would you please inform me the criteria for the Committee's departure from the usual practice? This is obviously not determined by signature content since between one hundred thousand and one hundred and twenty thousand people signed our Petition. Therefore is the deciding factor: -

• The popularity of the issue with government departments?
• left to the whim of individual Committee members?
• fear that the Committee members could be adversely affected by the result of a successful Petition?
• manipulation of the Committee from other sources?
• that the Committee is chosen for its known views?
  or...  
• that the Committee believes it is qualified to make decision without input from society?

Anticipating that your answer be that this is privileged information I ask why this is so since the Committee exists and operates as an organ of the people, and financed by them?

Given that the Parliamentary Select Committee is bound to report its findings and recommendations back to the government on completion of a Hearing, perhaps you will also inform me how this is to be achieved if it refuses to accept the evidence?

Another troublesome riddle brings me to ask should the Committee exercise its right to depart from usual practice and refuse to accept evidence from supporters of the Petition, am I to believe that it will correspondingly refuse evidence against the petition, say from government regulatory authorities, Health, Agriculture, Science, Education and the chemical and drug mega-giants? If this is not so, it means that the weight of the State and all its resources in collusion with private protagonists of vivisection will be pitted against this writer's sole Submission and verbal presentation. If however it is so and the Committee refuses evidence from opposing factions it means that four non-professionals (on the subject) have the awesome authority to make decisions of gigantic and almost limitless magnitude, without calling for deliberations from any quarter.

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